Posts Tagged ‘Persons Disabilities’

Design, Systems and Persons with Disabilities

March 12th, 2010 DBWriter

Understanding how design, systems and persons with disabilities might have something to do with each other is a challenge. I went to Bela Banathy for some understanding of what design is, and to Draper Kauffman Jr. for an understanding of what a system is. I pursued the Whole Systems Design program at Antioch University. Along the way, I have found that I have something to say about systems theory and design in relation to disability. This section is a reflection of my thought on design, systems and persons with disabilities, but I begin with a short description of my educational process through Divergence and Convergence.

I have created a model for the parts of disability that I expect to see more of in my future. During my Whole Systems Design education, I first pursued a period of Divergence, where I simply experienced as much as possible in an effort to find a direction. During Convergence, I created my domain of interest, which is People with Disabilities. I also studied design.

Design is, according to Bela H. Banathy, “the initiation of change in man-made things.” I feel that this is a simple definition of a multi-faceted activity. While design is used to fulfill the needs people have, it also helps us to simulate what we desire before it exists; design helps us to imagine our future based on current reality. Design is used to bring something useful and entirely new into the human experience. (Banathy, 1996)

Design is largely a process of thought and communication; you must first think of a design, and then communicate it with others. When thinking of a design, I have to first think of how something should be, and then create a plan of action. Design appeals to me because I can use it to reach for how persons with disabilities should be treated in America, and come up with actions that lead toward change. I am pleased with the fact that design can be used to create change in regard to the social problems that persons with disabilities face. The social problems that persons with disabilities face are systemic, and before anyone can design a way to work with a system, we must understand what a system is.

One definition of what a system is comes from Draper L. Kauffman, Jr.’s Systems 1: An introduction to systems thinking, and reads, “A system is a collection of parts which interact with each other to function as a whole.” This is a very basic definition, but there is more to systems theory than just this small definition. For example, systems cannot be divided in half with the expectation of having two, smaller systems. For a system to function, all of its parts must be present in the proper arrangement. In my mind, existence is made up of system after system, and the scale of these systems reaches to every extreme we are capable of sensing, and beyond. (Kauffman, 1980)

Interaction between systems interests me because of the way social organizational systems interact. Working to keep the growing efforts of disability organizations, which are systems, from disintegrating into a mob, while better defining the specific, working systems within these organizations, is one of the goals I have. Interaction between disability organizations must function well, or their efforts will not produce the quality results they seek.

Another important part of systems theory is the concept of feedback. Information concerning the efforts of disability organizations which is used to enhance their efforts is called feedback. Negative feedback is a kind of feedback that helps to cancel out or maintain a system’s work. For example, a disability organization that works to fight ADA legal cases in favor of clients with disabilities might have a gain in the number of clients they serve. Yet their work helps to lighten their load of clients, and keeps the number of clients they work for over a year at a level they can handle. (Kauffman, 1980)

If, however, there is an increase in the number of clients, each bringing more information, which keeps on rising, the legal workers won’t be able to keep their workload at a level they can deal with. The clients will keep coming, and the ADA legal workers will eventually have to find additional help. Feedback that continually gains is called positive feedback, and is another part of systems theory. Feedback loops can work together to create a stable system as well. If the gain in the number of clients the legal workers have to work for keeps rising, but the number of businesses in the area becomes educated about ADA law through previous legal action, the number of clients that the legal workers have will decrease or become stable over time.

Keeping a system like the organizational one I have described going requires more and more energy as it increases in complexity. As a social system it can never completely stop, or it will cease to exist. On the other hand, it cannot become endlessly more complex, or it will exhaust its energy. I believe that maintaining a balance of energy use within a disability organization is crucial to its survival. I also think that keeping a balance in any social system is difficult because change is constant, and it can take a long time for a social system to react to change. (Kauffman, 1980)

The other side of the change issue is that if change occurs too quickly it can do damage. If the ADA legal organization I described opens the door on Monday to find eighty clients with very involved issues to be represented, it could have some damaging effects, such as frustrated and angry clients and legal workers. The result could be confrontations between legal workers and clients who had been working together well before the rush. If the legal workers had the opportunity to anticipate the rush for their services, maybe through a news item they viewed the evening before, they could have prepared for it. I think that helping disability organizations to “see what’s coming” is a worthy goal for anyone involved in them.

The changes that come to disability organizations ideally should not be brought on a whole-organization level. Working with the parts of the organization that make the whole is a better option. So, in order to work with change in an organization, I would have to first figure out how the organization works through studying the parts that make it up, and their interactions. Learning about a disability organization can be tricky because, like many systems, there may be some hidden systems within it. If changes were made to the schedules of several employees in the ADA legal organization because it was felt it would benefit the system, it might turn out that the employees who had originally been working together were working together well out of personal connections between them, and that productivity dropped because of the changes made. The employee’s system of personal interaction was not readily apparent. (Kauffman, 1980)

Disability organizations, like many systems, have vulnerabilities that can be difficult to work with. Some of these vulnerabilities can be very small, or difficult to see coming. For example, a disability organization might be doing rather well as measured by number and quality of services provided. Yet if a manager of the Human Resources department is unsatisfied with his job, and starts to promote discontent within the entire organization through his contact with employees, then making a policy of open communication in the organization a part of the organization’s whole might prevent discontent by allowing anyone to voice his discontent without fear.

The knowledge a disability organization has grows with practice. I’m not sure any organization stagnates where the experience of its practices is concerned. The gaining of knowledge is a feedback loop that organizations have as part of their whole. While the experience of learning may not always be a pleasant one, the knowledge from the learning experience is a gain. (Kauffman, 1980)

Power, like knowledge, is a feedback loop. As a disability organization works for persons with disabilities, those persons become supporters of the organization, and the organization grows in social power. If the organization grows to the point of having too much power, persons with disabilities might feel like they are expected to support the organization. If the organization continues to grow in power, they may become an oppressive force instead of a supportive one. A positive feedback loop of power can be pleasant, exciting, disconcerting, or frightening depending on how much power it has. I think that working with a disability organization to keep the organization’s vision, goals and values in perspective is essential to worthwhile efforts to work for persons with disabilities.

By finding the feedback loops in a disability organization’s system, as well as identifying the system’s parts and the way the parts interact, I can use my Whole Systems Design degree to keep the organization healthy. Any change that I make to an organization must change the feedback loops I find within the organization or it may be a temporary change. To create long-term change within an organization, I might change the relationships between the feedback loops that are present in the organization. (Kauffman, 1980)

A disability organization is a complex system that has several features. It keeps itself stable enough to function, and hopefully to flourish. Such an organization looks for goals to pursue that support what it is doing, helping it to work toward being purposeful. Disability organizations follow a program, and are capable of changing that program to suit the needs of the organization. As a complex system, a disability organization can anticipate many changes that face it.

Disability organizations must continually learn how to interact with the social environment around them, or they will fail. Disability organizations can grow beyond one office, to different cities and towns and neighborhoods. If an organization is to survive, it can maintain and repair itself, or learn how. As changes face a disability organization, it can reorganize itself to better work with persons with disabilities. (Kauffman, 1980)

Because disability organizations are complex systems, they can handle more information, work better with change, learn faster, can be more flexible and are more capable of dealing with events that face them than a simple system. An example of a simple system might be one where you write to my address, and I mail you back a coupon for $50 off on a new unicycle. As a simple system, I don’t have as much to maintain or coordinate as a disability organization. I also don’t have to spend as much energy or resources as a disability organization, and I don’t have to work with as much information. I also wouldn’t reap the rewards of having a complex system like a disability organization.

It is easy to make decisions in a disability organization at a low level, and avoid problems. Doing so is faster and more flexible, but it can create conflict. At a disability organization with a problem in putting out a newsletter, it would be wiser to make the decision to approach the person who is responsible for the newsletter than to go to her manager. If the person responsible for the newsletter does not produce the newsletter, even after being reminded, then maybe it is time to approach their manager. In a complex system, it is always best to make decisions at the lowest level, but be willing to make a decision at a higher level if necessary. Whatever the case, it is a good idea to leave some room for the unexpected – maybe the person responsible for the newsletter is sick, or had a bad night before work. (Kauffman, 1980)

No system, disability organization, or society is going to work perfectly. Whenever I make a decision to change something within a system, it will almost certainly create another problem. As someone who supports disability organizations, I have to be ready for some sloppiness and unfairness, and be ready to work with change.

To understand a system you must understand it as a whole, as well as understand its parts. A “whole” in nature consists of a living organism that has several parts that interact with each other. Studying the parts of the organism alone will not help you to understand the whole of the organism; you must study the entire organism to understand it as a system. To understand an organism as a whole, you have to take the parts and the whole organism in context with each other. None of the parts in an organic whole has all of the properties of the whole organism; properties of the whole come from the interrelation of the parts.

To understand a whole you must understand the relationships between the parts that are within the whole. You must also understand the contents of the whole, and the patterns that are present within the whole. The whole of a human community contains parts, the interrelation between those parts, and patterns of interaction between its parts; it is a system. Disability organizations are not whole natural systems, but they are whole systems nonetheless. (Capra, 1996)

An organization that works for persons with disabilities has parts which interact with each other, it has patterns which are identifiable as such, and you must take the parts of the organization into context with each other as a whole in order to understand the whole organization. No single part of a disability organization has all of the properties that the whole organization does, and if you were to remove one or more parts of a disability organization it would alter or even possibly destroy the organization. An example of a disability organization as a whole might be the ADA legal support organization I have described.

The ADA legal support organization in this paper might have a public relations department, a human resources department, a research department, and a legal department. All of these departments are a part of the ADA legal support organization’s whole. Looking at the whole of this organization you might find that the different departments all interact with each other in various ways, and that each department has a pattern of interaction with specific other parts of the organization. For example, the human resources department finds workers for all of the other departments, while the research and legal departments interact with each other consistently to provide services to clients. The legal and the public relations departments have a pattern of interaction because the media, an outside system, often requires information from them. (Capra, 1996)

When taken into context with each other, the public relations, human resources, research, and legal departments make up a whole that functions to assist persons with disabilities. If you were to remove any of the departments in the ADA legal organization you would remove the organization’s ability to function as well, or possibly destroy the whole of the organization.

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Personal Mastery and Persons with Disabilities

March 12th, 2010 DBWriter

Personal Mastery is a process of living that involves some specific points. Creative tension, emotional tension, conflict, vision, honesty, openness, shared vision, and complexity are all parts of personal mastery. I approach the parts of personal mastery in relation to persons with disabilities in this section of my paper. While reading about personal mastery, I found myself thinking, “this could really be a tool for persons with disabilities.” I think that personal mastery can help persons with disabilities find direction in life, and help them achieve goals.

For persons with disabilities, mastering ourselves to the greatest extent we can is essential if we are to teach the people and organizations around us who we are and what we can contribute to society. Personal mastery begins with competency and skills.


The first thing we have to do on the road to personal mastery is to define what is truly important to us instead of spending time coping with the problems we all face in our lives. Some of the competencies and skills involved in personal mastery include:

  • Clarifying what is important

Persons with disabilities are often frustrated by the situation they find themselves in. They see the prejudice that nondisabled persons have toward persons with disabilities, the lives persons with disabilities live on Social Security income, the medical troubles persons with disabilities face, and the lack of available opportunity. Perhaps one of the first steps out of this cycle of unhappiness is through figuring out what is really important to persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities can benefit from knowing what they truly want in life. (Senge, 1994)

  • Learning how to see current reality

Knowing where we are currently as persons with disabilities, without any veils on, is another part of personal mastery that persons with disabilities can benefit from in a large way. Knowing where we are helps us to understand our current reality, but along with the knowledge of what we most desire, it becomes the basis for bringing creative tension into our lives. If we can see where we are now, and what we want in the future, we can begin to work for our dreams.

  • Learning how to generate creative tension, and sustain it

We can generate creative tension through awareness of where we are now and what we truly desire; a powerful ability. Sustaining creative tension involves acknowledging that our current reality and vision, or what we truly desire, will change as we move toward success in personal mastery. We can maintain creative tension by keeping an understanding of where we are now and our vision as it changes over time.

  • Expanding the ability to produce the results we truly want in life

As we reach for personal mastery through generation of creative tension, we can learn how to improve the ways we produce the results we want. Practice makes perfect. Moving toward our goals is a learning process; we become better at what we do through practice and time.

  • Lifelong learning

Changes in where we are and what we desire present continual learning opportunities in life. Whenever we encounter some change in the process of generating creative tension, we also encounter more opportunities to learn about where we are now, what we truly want, and ways that we can reach for understanding and fulfillment. Pursuit of personal mastery is a lifelong learning process. (Senge, 1994)

  • Attaining and maintaining a level of personal and/or professional proficiency

As we move toward greater proficiency in personal mastery, we become more professional or proficient about the process. We become more committed to the process of personal mastery. We have more initiative, and a more profound sense of responsibility. We also learn faster.

Persons who work toward personal mastery live in a constant learning mode. They have a sense of purpose that supports their vision and goals. For persons pursuing personal mastery, a vision isn’t simply a ‘good idea’, it is a calling. They see their current reality as a friend, and have learned how to see and work with change instead of against it. Personal mastery brings with it the desire to see current reality more clearly and also brings a sense of being connected to life and other people. Personal mastery helps people to develop emotionally, which in turn helps them to reach their goals. It is a process of living that builds confidence and helps people to see that the ‘path is the goal.’ (Senge, 1994)

If we drift along through life, with no clear idea of the reality we live in, we cannot work with what is real. For many of us, seeing reality is inescapable on a poverty or medical level, but what about the world around us? Once we have a clear idea of what it is we want in life, also called ‘vision’, as well as an understanding of the reality around us, we have brought forth something called ‘creative tension’.

Creative tension is a force that is caused by the tendency of tension to find some form of resolution. Personal mastery is learning how to first generate and then sustain creative tension in relation to our lives. Once we have some creative tension in our lives, we can pursue life-long learning, and this expands our ability to make the results we want for ourselves. Knowing what we want for ourselves means that we are capable of teaching organizations who we are, to the benefit of everyone. (Senge, 1994)

Creative tension is the core principle of personal mastery, the force that comes into play the moment that we acknowledge a vision that conflicts with where we are currently. Creative tension can bring on emotions such as anxiety, sadness, hopelessness, worry or discouragement. These emotions can be dangerous for someone who is depressed or anxious, and must be prepared for if possible. Reaching for help through a friend, family members, or others is something that can help you deal with these emotions as you reach for what you really want in life. Few people build their new home by themselves; asking for help is no shame. (Senge, 1994)

It is important to understand that these emotions are not creative tension, they are known as ‘emotional tension’, and everyone who pursues personal mastery will likely have to deal with some emotional tension. Extreme emotional tension might be a sign that you should lower your vision a little for some relief. No one says your vision has to include such large things as to make reaching for your vision a process of continual suffering. Your vision will change as time passes, and you will gain satisfaction from reaching the goals you set.

Shifting the emotional tension downward by modifying your vision is ok, but if you do it repeatedly you may lose the creative tension you generated, and have to start the process over again. If you are unwilling to live with some emotional tension, your goals will erode over time. I think it is just fine to start over a few times, as long as you do start again, and then pursue your vision to the degree you can. (Senge, 1994)

Becoming proficient in the use of creative tension changes how you look at the concept of ‘failure.’ Failure is a shortfall, and points to the gap between your vision and current reality. It is an opportunity to learn about inaccuracies in your picture of current reality, or strategies that didn’t work. It helps you to clarify your vision. Failure isn’t about being powerless or unworthy. Understanding your current reality is equally important as a clear vision. It is also important to understand your limits.

Interestingly, the closer you get to reaching your vision, the more your current vision pressures you to stay. You may lose energy, or even question whether you really want the vision you set for yourself, but it is beliefs that you are unaware of that tend to create this struggle. Feelings of powerlessness or unworthiness can keep you from going the final distance to your vision. Some people just ‘let go’ of their vision, and let it fade away; a poor way of dealing with conflict in the final stages of reaching for a vision, in my opinion. (Senge, 1994)

Some people try to manipulate the conflict by creating more, artificial conflict. An example of this could be avoidance of the conflict. Many people focus on what it is that they don’t want, such as antidrugs, antismoking, antinuclear weapons or power, and so on. People might focus on getting off of Social Security, when what they want in their vision is a job.

Some people wind up concentrating more on conflict manipulation instead of reaching their vision, but others move into a state of emotional tension, such as anxiety or fear concerning their ability to reach their vision. Some people worry about losing what they have. Others try to use willpower to deal with resistance from the creative tension process. It sounds to me like a lot of people have trouble ‘letting go’, after reaching or getting close to their visions. ‘Letting go’ of your past reality enables you to move forward. Persons with disabilities need to be aware that upon reaching a vision or getting near to it, they need to acknowledge what they have done, rejoice in their achievements, and then work on another vision. The process of personal mastery is a lifelong one, and dealing with success is just as important as establishing a constructive view of failure. (Senge, 1994)

The idea of creative tension is an essential part of personal mastery. Creative tension springs into being when we realize that there is a difference between our vision and the reality we are experiencing. Creative tension can lead to emotional experiences like anxiety, discouragement or sadness. These emotions are not creative tension, they are emotional tension, distinguishing between the two is an important skill in personal mastery. Living with emotional tension can be difficult for people, but this doesn’t mean that they are incapable of personal mastery. People are individuals, and each person should pursue personal mastery to the extent she is able. Persons can actually use the ‘gap’ between vision and reality to make the energy they need to create change.

People who work toward personal mastery find that failure is just a shortfall, and that it points out creative tension. Failure is definitely not about our being unworthy or powerless. Failure teaches us how to pursue life a little better than we had before. Our limitations are what they are – but this is true of all people, disabled or nondisabled. (Senge, 1994)

Without a vision for the future, one involving what you truly want from life, it is easy to give up. Ask some people with disabilities what they want and they may tell you something like, “oh, it would be nice to have an extra week’s medical supplies, so I don’t have to worry about whether or not I’ll make it through the last couple of days of the month.” Some might say, “I’d like to live in a better neighborhood.” The focus they might have instead is on their ‘ultimate’ desires, the main life-goals that can change their lives for the better, not just secondary goals. A vision springs from a person’s beliefs concerning why she is alive. A personal vision pulls you forward and makes the work you put forth to reach that vision worthwhile.

Vision is not a sense of purpose; a purpose is like a general direction. A vision is a specific result that you really want to achieve. A vision is solid; purpose is “being the best you can be”. A vision is seeing an African-American woman with a disability as president by the year 2025. Nothing happens until you have a vision, and a vision is simply a good idea. Personal mastery is a process of focusing and re-focusing on your vision, in order to help maintain your creative tension. (Senge, 1994)

For people who have achieved personal mastery, a vision isn’t just a good idea; it is a ‘calling’ to pursue the vision. For them, the reality they find themselves in is a friend because they know how to work with change instead of fighting it. They dig deeper and deeper into the questions they have, and see reality more accurately because of it. Their connections to other people and life are strengthened, and they are a part of the creative process. People with disabilities should pursue personal mastery.

The impact of pursuing personal mastery is intense; people become more committed to their actions, they take more initiative to get things done, and have a greater sense of responsibility in both their life and work. Happiness is a result of pursing personal mastery that is tied to personal fulfillment. For many disabled persons, personal mastery is a way out of the despair of socially enforced poverty. (Senge, 1994)

A commitment to truth is another important part of personal mastery because if you are not committed to truth you will not be able to see your progress through untainted eyes. Being committed to truth means that you relentlessly root out the ways you limit or deceive yourself as you move toward your vision. Question your theories, broaden your awareness; work toward a deeper understanding of the structures supporting events, and revel in the surprises that arise.

Without doubt, some complexity will arise in the search for personal mastery. The subconscious mind is our best friend when faced with complexity. We all do complex things every day, depending on our abilities, such as walking, talking, eating or riding a wheelchair down the street. The subconscious mind helps these things happen. Anything new that we learn requires a lot of conscious attention, but once it is learned, the subconscious mind takes control of performing them. We need to focus on the vision we have and not the things we need to do in order to reach the vision. The subconscious mind retains things we have learned along the way, and by concentrating on our vision we keep our conscious mind free to learn new things which the subconscious mind will retain. (Senge, 1994)

Personal mastery can help persons with disabilities to reach their visions for a better personal and social future. Once we choose to pursue our visions, and learn more and more about what we truly want, we can begin teaching others about who we are. The creative tension that exists between our current reality and our visions for the future is a powerful place which we can use to learn, create, and grow. Through personal mastery we can better define who we are as a people, both individually and politically.

Shared vision is an important part of an organization because it allows people to work together without falling into the trap of self-interest. People want to be a part of something that is larger than them, and to contribute; people like working with each other. The personal visions of many people include their families, communities and organizations. Shared visions create a sense of trust between people, and allow them to be open with one another. Political situations begin to fall apart as shared vision and openness are pursued within an organization. (Senge, 1994)

Being open with each other in an organization, and actively participating in that openness, allows people to share vision. Reflective openness helps them to look inward and question their own thinking. It is important for people in an organization to understand that each individual’s ideas are her own, and that they may not be the ones the organization needs to pursue. Leaps of abstraction allow people to see the differences between their own theories and the theories that are being used. The ability to question yourself and others without fear is important to the functioning of an organization. If people are sure or certain about what they are doing, motivation to question what they are doing disappears.

If I am sure that my methods of productivity are right, I have removed any motivation I might have to keep an open mind about those productivity methods. My ability to produce is marred by my fixing my understanding of how I produce. If I am sure that I have written this paper to the best of my ability, and will accept no possibility that there is room for improvement, then my ability to question how I write this paper disappears. (Senge, 1994)

Someone who provides services for persons with disabilities, and chooses to set ‘acceptable outcome’ in relation to those services, has closed the door to their ability to improve the way she provides those services. Keeping an open mind, and accepting the possibility that services could improve, is vital to growth in the ability to provide those services. Being absolutely sure that you are doing your best, or that you are providing ‘acceptable’ services, removes your ability to question what you are doing, and diminishes your ability to do your job well.

If you are certain about what you are doing, you diminish the creative tension in your life. Being certain, and closing your mind about the potential for improvement, might leave you in an emotionally secure position. Unfortunately, emotional security is also a sign that your creative tension is decreasing. Keeping yourself motivated and open to change and improvement is important for personal mastery, and one way to maintain openness toward improvement is through others. (Senge, 1994)

We have the opportunity to be open with each other, create a shared vision, and work toward a future that is more supportive to our well being than the reality of today. We have the ability to reach for personal mastery, with all of its benefits. We can learn about ourselves, and then teach others. We can help nondisabled people in America to understand that people with disabilities are able, creative human beings through our own personal mastery and leadership.

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